Monday, January 04, 2016

Michael Harris On Rona Ambrose and the Con War On Electoral Reform

As we all know, Rona Ambrose can on occasion, and even without realizing it, be quite funny.Like the time she found herself agreeing with Australia's Stoner Sloth that marijuana makes you stupid.Because she should know eh?

About the stupid.And as Michael Harris writes, her war on electoral reform is a real comedy. Rona Ambrose is turning into the best stand up comic in Canada, though the joke seems mostly on the official opposition.
Like a mosquito at a nudist colony, Rona thought being opposition leader would be easy work. There’s so much exposed flesh in the government’s spending plans, the only question should be where to begin drilling? Instead, she hit a dry vein. She and her advisors opted for electoral reform as the juiciest morsel to try to tear into.For there really isn't a more hilarious or more absurd sight than a Con posing as a defender of democracy...

While threatening to use her Con stooges in the Senate to block a bill by the duly elected House of Commons.And after all her depraved leader Stephen Harper and his political thugs did to our democracy.While she looked on and said nothing.Where was Ambrose’s vehement commitment to democracy when Pierre Poilievre was giving his pathetically partisan response to the Robocalls scandal? Only sad little “Skippy” could confuse doubling down on skullduggery with reform. Still Ambrose didn’t seem to mind rigging the electoral system without a referendum when it was her team that was doing the rigging.Why would she scream for a referendum now? When her master never held one on anything, even WAR...

Harper did not bother with a referendum when he decided to take this country to war. If there is a graver public policy decision, I can’t think of it. War is the ultimate crossing of the Rubicon. The people you send over that river often don’t come back. Can you recall Ambrose clamouring for an approving referendum before dropping bombs and killing people in the name of all Canadians?And why can't she understand that Justin Trudeau already won a referendum on electoral reform?When he promised to scrap the first past the post system, and won the ELECTION...

As much as Ambrose and her media enablers may not like it, the results of that poll were decisive. The Liberals won in a landslide and now have the mandate to govern that exceeds any that the Harper Conservatives could have claimed. The Liberals had more votes, a higher percentage of voters, and more seats than the Conservatives. As a result, Ambrose is left with a mandate to oppose, not to obstruct.So Ambrose should respect that mandate, stop trying to whip up the mob for crass political purposes, and start apologizing for the crimes of the Harper regime.For Canadians will remember how faithfully she served it, and its depraved leader...

They will remember that her former boss treated press conferences like trips to a leper colony.
They will remember that the Harper government ran vicious, partisan, and largely fictitious attack ads against its opponents well before any writ was dropped. They will recall how the government of which Ambrose was a senior minister altered documents and choked off information in ways unseen in Canadian history. And they will never forget that your party ultimately stood for just three things: non-stop campaigning; milking the base for cash; and as Tom Flanagan once said before being sent into deep space orbit, bowing down at the leader’s feet.They will remember the nightmare, and as I pointed out last night, if the Cons and the Con media force a referendum, it will be used against them...

And it will only damage them further.You know, we did quite well in the last election and we did bury the regime, and a good number of its ministers and MPs...

But an alarming number did survive, so I know we can do better.And once we reform our electoral system. As we must and we will.We'll send all the others to join them...Please click here to recommend this post on Progressive Bloggers.

11 comments:

Smoke and mirrors is all they are. Kind of like stalker ex, petulant child, and school yard bully all warped into one.

Paul Martin is the only reason the Harpy cons can pretend to have been good for the economy. In his grace, Martin paid kudos to Wilson, Mulroney's Finance Minister, for his work that helped pave the way to a balanced budget.

If we let these, or similar jokers into our House again to rape and pillage our Canada, we only have ourselves to blame.

It will be interesting to see the reaction of the CPC to Peter Mackay (sp ?) when he puts his smelly feet into the waters of the leadership race. After all, he lied and sold out the PCs when the CPC was formed. Rona will have her work cut out for her. The stress will bring out the worst in them all, as they never learned their political table manners.

hi TS...I feel the same way. If the Cons were a normal Canadian party I wouldn't feel so strongly about the issue. But the way they lied, cheated, tried to divide us, and fiddled with the election rules makes it even more necessary that the rules be changed. And yes I am looking forward to watching the Cons start fighting themselves. I don't believe any of them can win an election, and if there is to be a threat it will have to come from an outside candidate. And whoever that person might be can expect the Reformer in the party to come down on them like a ton of bricks. I of course will be contributing the race, by urging the disaffected Cons to vote for the Christian Heritage Party... ;)

Thank God we have people like you Simon and Michael Harris to cut through the MSM bullshit and tell it like it is. For Ronda to utter theword democracy when it now has a useful purpose for her to rally the "troops" is beyond hypocrisy. She and her reformacons are scared shitless and deserve to be. If electoral reform keep's these monstrosities from power for a generation then so be it because what remains after Harper should never be in power. I wont be happy until they're all just a sad footnote in our history books.JD

hi JD...yes the Cons are really scared, and are busy setting up all kinds of third party groups to fight this threat to their existence. So I haven't the slightest doubt that if they did get a referendum they would use it to confuse voters as much as possible, and favour the status quo. This is the best chance we'll ever have to change the flawed FPTP system, and we should not let anyone steal it....

And how recent was it that Scott had told you, Simon, that you were beating a dead horse with your articles in your blog against Harper and his trained seals such as Ambrose? It is almost as if Harper had never left his party, eh? Or that their party is working hard to keep Harper's bankrupt policies alive. :)

hi anon....yes, all I'll say about that is that Scott is a very nice guy, but I think he underestimates how hard the Cons are going to come at us with the help of the Con media and Big Business. I also think he underestimates the degree to which the Cons are still the Harper party, and if they ever get elected again we'll just get more of the same whoever their leader is. So I'm fighting on... :)

I agree Simon. The CPC Clowns are still plotting their return. They thrive in a void of apathy that they create by their idiotic hypocrisy. The Canadian people voted against that apathy on Oct 19. I think PM Trudeau and his advisors understand this well.

"I wont be happy until they're all just a sad footnote"Too easy...how about some convictions and prison time for the actual crimes they committed (and they are legion) against the country and people of Canada?Forgive...maybe after they've served out their sentences.Forget? FUCK NO!!! Our short memories keep getting us into these godforsaken messes in the first place!!!

hi anon... I know. I know, do you think I don't feel like you and so many others? I will never be satisfied until the Cons pay for what they did to this country. And will not forget or forgive them, if only so something like that never happens again. But I will say that if we can implement electoral reform they will be forced change or they will be destroyed. So that is something...

Simon,The Liberals already ruled out a referendum, so Rona and co. are wasting their time anyway.

With that said I don’t think we’ll be better off with the Liberals. Despite the ‘sunny ways’ this is still the party of Bay Street and big money. Let’s face it, except for some resource companies based in the West, Canada’s corporate elites never warmed up to Harper and the CPC. Now their boys and girls are back. They’re happy. Ever heard of Power Corporation? With Harper, you knew he was in charge, and to a fault. Trudeau is just a puppet of those big guys.

You think the one-percenters ever supported Harper? Look who wins, and always wins Canada’s richest ridings, like Westmount, Toronto-Rosedale and Vancouver Quadra. In most of those the conservatives are not even competitive. The typical CPC voter is not a one-percenter, it’s a middle-aged guy in a small town, driving his kids to hockey practice in his pickup truck.

I take it you’re a NDP supporter, just don’t hold your breath for progressive policies from this new gang.

hi anon...I know the Liberals have ruled out a referendum, but with the enormous pressure they are under from the Con media, I'm not sure that decision will hold. As for the Liberals, I voted for the NDP, because I'm to the left of all the Canadian parties. But I have been impressed by Justin Trudeau, so I am willing to give him a chance to see what he can do. I'm sure I won't agree with all his positions, but at this point I'm just glad to have a party in power that does share our basic Canadian values. If the Cons can do that, like they didn't under Harper, I would be very happy.Let Canadians act like Canadians, and we can work anything out...